Icon Torque Wrench Problem, or not?

[AEAdam]

The absolute value torque reading isn't as important as its repeatability for most all applications. Sounds like the play is just part of the design and not a flaw per se.

Just a couple tips from work:
1) Store your wrench at a low setting in accordance with manufacturers recommendations.
2) Prior to use on a torque sensitive application (water pump, head gasket, any gasket really) set the wrench to the desired torque and exercise the wrench several times. Reason: These tools are mechanical and a bit of corrosion can affect the mechanism. Give the wrench a few times at each new torque setting prior to actual use.
3) Pull until the wrench begins to release, not through the click for torque sensitive applications. I trained myself to do this for all applications just for the habit of it. Its a little like learning to feel a trigger break.
4) Always make sure your fasteners and all mating surfaces are clean and properly oiled or treated appropriately. Note: Oiled doesn't mean dripping in used motor oil. Just a few drops of clean motor oil or 3 in 1 is usually sufficient. And be sure to oil under the head and on the mating surface.

Know this: Its not the torque wrench but the craftsman. And - try not to worry about the calibration of your torque wrenches a few percent probably won't make much difference.

 

[Cruzan80]

Always make sure your fasteners and all mating surfaces are clean and properly oiled or treated appropriately.

I thought unless otherwise stated, most/all torque specs were dry (un-lunricated)?

 

[dnschmidt]

The absolute value torque reading isn't as important as its repeatability for most all applications. Sounds like the play is just part of the design and not a flaw per se.

Just a couple tips from work:
1) Store your wrench at a low setting in accordance with manufacturers recommendations.
2) Prior to use on a torque sensitive application (water pump, head gasket, any gasket really) set the wrench to the desired torque and exercise the wrench several times. Reason: These tools are mechanical and a bit of corrosion can affect the mechanism. Give the wrench a few times at each new torque setting prior to actual use.
3) Pull until the wrench begins to release, not through the click for torque sensitive applications. I trained myself to do this for all applications just for the habit of it. Its a little like learning to feel a trigger break.
4) Always make sure your fasteners and all mating surfaces are clean and properly oiled or treated appropriately. Note: Oiled doesn't mean dripping in used motor oil. Just a few drops of clean motor oil or 3 in 1 is usually sufficient. And be sure to oil under the head and on the mating surface.

Know this: Its not the torque wrench but the craftsman. And - try not to worry about the calibration of your torque wrenches a few percent probably won't make much difference.

My solution to that is to use a digital torque wrench. Strain gauge accuracy and many have torque angle capability.

 

[AEAdam]

I thought unless otherwise stated, most/all torque specs were dry (un-lunricated)?

Good question. Yes and no. The issue is the definition of the term “dry”.

Torque can be calculated to achieve a given preload, but big American companies did testing that resulted in the tables most everyone uses. That testing for “dry“ torque values was based on the companies’ definition of dry, not ours. All fasteners are were treated with something, be it dry film lube or a light machine oil for anti corrosion. All were considered.

“Wet” is grease or sealant, something with both some anti friction capabilities, and the weight to not simply extrude out of the joint.

There is no “standard” torque value for our corroded, chalky, filthy, lug nuts etc.

BTW, studies have been done on dirty hardware. What they concluded was, after torquing large numbers of specimens the average preload was roughly the same as clean hardware. Because of stick slip, dirty hardware can’t be reliably preloaded by bumping up the torque a few ftlbs. The problem, again, because of stick slip, is the variation in preload was much much greater for the dirty hardware.

So, best to read my earlier post and follow those instructions. There’s a lot of effort that our parents/grand parents put into that, immediately following WW2. Torque remains a real challenge for me at work. Most people don’t understand it. Despite mandatory training and certification, many of our mechanics and customer mechanics don’t really know how to use their torque wrenches.

 

[AEAdam]

My solution to that is to use a digital torque wrench. Strain gauge accuracy and many have torque angle capability.

You know I love tools and digital wrenches are a joy to use. But like all really nice tools, technique is a huge contributor. And of course this is doubly true with torque wrenches. Digital wrenches can’t account for for preparation.

More- I don’t think I over do it, but I use the little stainless mag dishes. I put my hardware in them and at a minimum, I hose it down with WD-40, and clean with a toothbrush. Depending on the application, location of the hardware, I keep a little squeeze bottle of 3 in 1, and add a few drops to hardware that needs it. Really dirty crusty stuff, I may use a thread restorer on to clean caked on gunk.

If you think about, almost regardless of what you are working on, dealing with fasteners is pretty fundamental stuff. We don’t talk about this that much. So many of our threads are arguments about what tool to buy (which is ok). When we talk torque wrenches, we really should talk hardware best practices.

 

[whateg01]

...

More- I don’t think I over do it, but I use the little stainless mag dishes. I put my hardware in them and at a minimum, I hose it down with WD-40, and clean with a toothbrush.

I don't think I'm going to be doing that for 99% of the stuff I do. If I'm rebuilding an engine or transmission, I'll clean it with brake cleaner and kimwipes.

 

[AEAdam]

I don't think I'm going to be doing that for 99% of the stuff I do. If I'm rebuilding an engine or transmission, I'll clean it with brake cleaner and kimwipes.

Well you certainly don’t need my permission!

But just to keep this relevant to all, failure to clean properly will result in varying preload which could easily lead to gasket failures or loss of preload over time.

I think there are many who say even German cars, once praised for providing good service for very long periods of time/usage when maintained regularly, don’t last anymore. They are like all others. Disposable vehicles. When the warranty expires, you should trade it. Some of that may be the engineering, some of it may be sloppy maintenance.

When I was younger, driving sports or sporty cars, I was one of those guys who washed his engine regularly. I thought even then, it wasnt so much the washing, as the inspection. I would find that leaking oil sending unit (or whatever) and fix it.

Again, technique and care help a lot.

I was recently accused of having tools that were essentially “too good for me”. I never thought of my tools as in anyway “fancy” before I discovered garagejournal. I have the exact same tools pros have. I have the same camera pros have, same guitar, same pots and pans, same woodworking tools, etc.

I would say, clean tools, well organized in a neat toolbox are part of a craftsmanly eco-system, that extends to everything I work on. Working tidily is a mindset.

 

[whateg01]

... When the warranty expires, you should trade it. Some of that may be the engineering, some of it may be sloppy maintenance.

I'm glad there are people like that. I buy all of my vehicles in the second half of their life. Fix the things that need fixed and drive it until the wheels fall off

 

[rlitman]

You’ll never fully trust the readings.

"A man with a watch knows what time it is. A man with two watches is never sure."

 

[M635_Guy]

Tools Tested on YouTube has done several multi-brand 1000-cycle tests on various torque wrench categories. Icon has been at or near the top in all of them. He doesn't sound happy about it, but And like most YT stuff like that there's the issue of sample size, but TTC has given the guy props for his methodology, and it's at least a piece of information.

I checked my Quinn Strain Gauge against the Quinn Digital Torque Wrench I'd grabbed and they agreed completely. Then I tested all of my torque wrenches (my SO 3/8", my old Griot's 1/2", the little Tekton, the little Icon and both Icon split beams). They were all pretty tight at low, middle and high ranges. All were within 2.5% or lower. The split-beams were dead-on (which was highly consistent with the Tools Tested results).

I check them all every once in a while. The Snap On is by far the oldest and has the highest cycles on it (just used it yesterday), but still in good spec. I hate the adjustment, which is why I got the 3/8" Icon split beam, but while I like it fine and it is very accurate, it's inconveniently long vs. the SO. I'd planned to sell the SO, but it's going to stay.

I don't understand the issue with axial play if (A) you're able to make the setting properly and (B) the setting is accurate.

 

[texasprd]

I don't understand the issue with axial play if (A) you're able to make the setting properly and (B) the setting is accurate.

My concern about the axial play, as I think explained previously, was about whether it affected accuracy and/or precision. My previous torque wrenches had twist-lock collars, so there was no axial play - this is my first with a pull-down lock, so axial handle play is new to me. Since the handle on micrometer-style wrenches moves axially as the setting changes, I didn't know if the play had any effect. Since handle turning-resistance increases as the torque setting imcreases, I figured there was probably another component actually acting on the spring (so the axial play would be irrelevant), but I couldn't tell from exploded diagrams of similar style wrenches.

 

[M635_Guy]

My concern about the axial play, as I think explained previously, was about whether it affected accuracy and/or precision. My previous torque wrenches had twist-lock collars, so there was no axial play - this is my first with a pull-down lock, so axial handle play is new to me. Since the handle on micrometer-style wrenches moves axially as the setting changes, I didn't know if the play had any effect. Since handle turning-resistance increases as the torque setting imcreases, I figured there was probably another component actually acting on the spring (so the axial play would be irrelevant), but I couldn't tell from exploded diagrams of similar style wrenches.

Split beam doesn't really offer a super-precise setting to begin with. For wheels, brakes, suspension, etc I'm confident I'm very close to the proper setting, but I'm not really counting on it for to-the-decimal torque, nor is it required for those jobs. I love the simplicity of setting and the feedback the mechanism achieves. If I was working on building/rebuilding motors, I'd be using the digital with torque angle.